We all fall down Atra Nex
by Akira Cat
Summary: The Black Death was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. You should be afraid of me." "Who are you? What are you meant to be?" "Who am I? My name is Atra Nex..."
1. The Last Meal Together

_"The Black Death was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. __The Black Death was estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population, reducing the world's population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400. __It is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, but this view has recently been challenged."_

* * *

"Wow Rev! This stew is actually good!" Tech swallowed the spoonful of the beef stew.

"Yeah Rev!" Ace agreed as he slurped it with a tasteful pleasure.

Slam placed his completely clean white bowl on the glass table after he licked every drop of the bronze coloured stew, proving his satisfaction of the meal.

"Aw shucks guys." Rev blushed as he rubbed the back of his long neck. "I just followed my mom's recipe to a tee. I was kinda worried I might have put too much beef or the actual stew inside but at least I know I didn't put too much of the spices otherwise your mouths would be on fire and-"

"It's fine! No need to share the secret ingredients of the mystery stew." Duck frowned at the roadrunner as he put his bowl down onto the table.

"Well it looks like we devoured that meal." Lexi smiled as she started collecting up the dirty crockery and cutlery. "I'll wash up with the chef."

"Hey look!" Rev picked up the pot with the remainder of the stew. "There's some stew left. Maybe we could save it for tomorrow morning."

"Before Slam gets to it? Unlikely!" Duck chuckled before he heard growl from Slam behind him.

While the mallard tried apologising to the tasmanian devil, Ace approached Lexi when she gathered the next set of dirty plates to be cleaned. With a worried expression on his face, he plucked up the courage to interrupt the female rabbit.

"Um... you're still not mad at me, are you? About that mission?"

Lexi sighed as she turned to Ace with a soft smile on her face.

"I'm over it Ace." She replied. "I understand you had to do what needed to be done."

"So we're okay den?" He asked just to double check. He knew that women needed to be handled delicately and Lexi was no exception.

"I'm cool with it Ace. Don't worry."

"Well dat's a relief." Ace exhaled. "I just didn't want to leave ya as dough everything's alright when they're clearly not."

"Ace." She giggled. "I'm okay. Stop worrying over silly little things. You did the right thing. After I've done this, we'll play pool okay?"

The male rabbit smiled as she carried the crockery off into the kitchen where Rev was waiting with the empty dishwasher after putting the pot of stew in the fridge.

* * *

The creaking door opened, breaking the silence in the darkness inside the headquarters. Slam's head carefully peered out of his room and scanned the area to make ure he didn't disturb any of the other Loonatics. After a few seconds of nothingness after the door squeaking, he was satisfied none of the others were disturbed. The Tasmanian devil tiptoed across the hallway whilst trying not to make any more mistakes that could jeapordise his mission. His target? The kitchen.

Slam crept around in the darkness until he found himself at the desired location as he did many times before. He felt around different shaped appliances until his hand finally touched upon the familiar door handle. Pushing it down, he pulled the door open to reveal a glow of white light. His eyes gleamed at the treasure trove of food in the fridge until he found the stew that was supposed to be saved for tomorrow morning. Licking his lips, he carefully handled the pot out of the fridge. Once closing the door, the Tasmanian devil grinned before opening his mouth wide open and poured the contents into it. Slam licked around the outside of his lips making sure he caught every last drop of the stew. He had to swallow harder than he did the first time as there appeared to be more of the beef chunks in it. But he figured being left in the fridge for a few hours tended to harden the food and therefore it was more difficult to eat. But that concern never crossed his mind as he could chomp on anything hot or cold. He was a little worried about how his friends would react to the empty pot of what once was beef stew but he felt that it was something they would easily forgive him for as they did it often (it took Duck the longest to get over little things like that but even he couldn't stay mad at him forever).

Slam turned away from the kitchen to slip back into his bedroom unnoticed when he coughed. He assumed that he needed to clear his throat until he coughed a few times more, each one growing more louder and violent. It started to swell into hacking and choking as the Tasmanian devil clutched to his throat and stomach. He desperately inhaled and exhaled to clear whatever it was blocking his windpipe but it grew more painful inside of him and he struggled to breathe. He slumped onto the floor still wheezing in desperation. He tried to form words to call for help but the choking prevented him from doing that. Finally, the Tasmanian devil collapsed. The struggle for air turned into silence and his body became a lifeless corpse in the darkness.

END OF CHAPTER 1.


	2. Confrontations

Lexi yawned as she ambled out of her bedroom. She squinted at the morning sun hitting her face and reacted with a groan. The wiping her eyes with the pink sleeve of her dressing gown, she thought to herself how it was strange for her to be the first one up. She was never the first one to get up naturally but she knew she was never the last. Lexi shuffled her feet towards the kitchen until a splashing sound snapped her out of her drowsiness. The rabbit cursed as she looked down onto the floor. Suddenly, her eyes grew wider at the red puddle she stepped in. Her eyes followed it to a large body lying on the floor. Without hesitation, she let out a scream loud enough to ring throughout the headquarters, bringing the rest of the Loonatics out of their bedrooms like an alarm.

"It's Slam!" Lexi cried as Ace ran to her. "He…"

As the others found the reason of Lexi's sudden fear stricken scream, their faces expressed shock. No-one said a word as Ace checked over the Tasmanian devil in hopes of there being some sign he could be saved. After his quick inspection, the male rabbit looked up at his team mates with a bereaved expression on his face.

"He's gone hasn't he?" Tech said monotonously.

"I'm afraid so Tech." Ace nodded.

It was a hard decision whether or not to call the police but after much discussion, they decided to call them after ten minutes. After making the call, the police arrived within five minutes. The forensic scientists, in their white overalls, snapped the crime scene with their cameras whilst others gathered as much evidence around the body as possible. Away from the body, the remaining Loonatics nervously sat on the purple sofas watching a Dalmatian anthro-being, in a green coloured suit, paced up and down the length of the sofas scribbling into his sandy brown notebook.

"And was Slam someone who had a lot of enemies?" He inquired.

"Excluding the villains we fought against, not that we know." Tech answered.

"Unless you count some of wrestlers that he used to tango with." Duck muttered with his arms crossed.

"Wrestlers?" The Dalmatian raised an eyebrow at the mallard.

"He used to be a professional wrestler before he became a superhero, detective." Ace explained.

"I see," The dog noted down this in the notebook. "It's strange though. Normally it's ordinary folk who need the help from you guys. However this time, it seems to be the other way round. But I suppose even superheroes aren't invincible despite the image they've been painted with."

He slipped the pen and notepad into his pocket in a casual manner before facing the Loonatics again.

"For now, I want you to stay here while we make arrangements for accommodations outside of this place for you to stay in until we've assessed the scene. It may be hard but I don't want any nasty surprises to pop up while the current's still rough understand? Oh, and don't go near the crime scene obviously. We don't want anyone to tamper with the evidence."

The Loonatics nodded their heads acknowledging what the detective said. The Dalmatian pulled his dark green, thick framed glasses off his muzzle and dropped them in his suit pocket.

"Well we'll be taking Slam to the forensics lab for a once over and we'll give you the autopsy report when we're done." He said in a cool tone. "Until then, stay out of trouble."

As the dog departed from the group, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Who does this Blotz guy think he is?" Duck spat in frustration.

"Jackson Blotz, if you haven't have noticed, is the homicide detective from the Acmetropolis police precinct." Tech glared at him. "He's solved more murder cases than anyone can count."

"Which means he's sure to catch the criminal in no time right?" Rev gave a weak smile before it disappeared once more.

"But still lost someone we've known for a long time; a fellow team member and a good friend." Ace said flatly.

Rev stood up to go somewhere from the others until he stopped after two steps.

"What if it isn't just Slam this killer is after?" He stammered whilst he turned to the others. "What if this killer wants to get us back for putting them away in jail?"

"A prisoner is not going to be able to escape Rev." Tech reassured him. "The prisons here are too secure for anyone to make their escape."

"But they may have superpowers like us!" The roadrunner started to hyperventilate. "They could have used them to break in and attacked him when he was most vulnerable!"

"Rev! Calm down!"

"What if they do the same thing to the rest of us?" The bird pressed his hands on the temples of his head. "What if they have more horrific ways off killing us off!? They'll be picking us out one by one! I don't want any more of us to die!"

"Snap out of it Rev!" Lexi jumped to her feet as she swung her right hand towards the roadrunner's cheek.

SLAP!

Rev's hand floated up to the burning mark on his cheek. Silence hung in the room with everyone but Lexi's face frozen in a state of shock. The forensic scientists stared at the group for a moment before slowly getting back to work. Ace finally stood up to place himself between the two Loonatics.

"Fighting isn't going get us anywhere nor is it going to make things any better." He calmly stated to his team mates. "Once we get to this safe house accommodation Detective Blotz spoke about, nothing else should happen and things will turn out okay."

"Oh and how do you know that 'things will turn out okay'?" Duck confronted the rabbit.

"Because it's the only thing I can say at the moment!" Ace snapped back. "Lets just do as the good detective says and stay calm."

Tech stood from the sofa and decided to escort the whimpering roadrunner into the coyote's laboratory. The rest of the group decided to take their lead as Duck slipped back into his bedroom. As Lexi grabbed the door handle to go into her quarters, a hand grabbed her wrist.

"What made you do that? That's not like you Lexi."

The female rabbit spun around to face Ace with a sincere look on his face. She bit her bottom lip as her green eyes looked down onto the floor.

"I don't know," She mumbled. "I guess I just snapped and... someone had to snap him out of it."

"I appreciate you shutting him up but I don't think that slapping him was necessary." The male rabbit rubbed his forehead. "Maybe you should apologize to him."

Lexi hesitated for a moment before she sighed.

"I suppose I should."

"There's a good girl." Ace said before he pecked her on the cheek.

Lexi raised a smile before heading off to Tech's lab. Still perched on the door frame, Ace watched her disappear through the doors as they hissed shut behind her. He scratched the back of his head until Duck poked his head out of his bedroom.

"This is obviously a bad time but…"

"Yeah," Ace turned around and looked at him with intrigue. "What is it Duck?"

There was a brief pause before the mallard shook his head.

"Never mind," He murmured. "Just forget it."

He retreated back into his room while Ace rubbed his forehead disheartened about the stress vented out by each one of his colleagues.

**END OF CHAPTER 2. **


	3. Pinata

Rev couldn't get to sleep that night. He lied awake in his bed plotting on how he could stay calm or just move on since the death of one of his closest friends. Of course, he couldn't just pretend it never happened but after Lexi done the one thing he never expected her to do, he realised that panicking would only make the situation worse. Rev rolled onto his side to check the time on his black, box-like alarm clock.

12.54am.

The road runner's fingers curled around the blanket as he rotated onto his back again. He gave a sigh wishing that the sun would banish the darkness of the night-time. He knew he had to be mature about the situation but after his outburst yesterday, he just wanted to disappear.

Just as he tried to shut his eyes so he could try to get some much needed sleep, he sensed some form of presence from outside his room. The roadrunner stripped the blanket from himself as he sprang to his feet. Carefully, he tiptoed across his room and slowly peered through the door after making a hissing sound. He scanned the hallway constantly checking for the presence his GPS picked up. He turned left towards the living room. Feeling around in the darkness proved difficult and the GPS tracking down the being was his only guide. His heart pounded in case he could be chasing down the murderer.

"I have to be strong," Rev thought to himself. "I can't let them get away with what they did to Slam."

His GPS powers lead him to turn a corner. He found no-one. Even in the darkness, there was no obvious outline of a person. This left Rev in a state of confusion.

"I was sure that someone was here…" He murmured to himself.

Suddenly he felt the presence again. But instead of getting nervous, he breathed a sigh of relief as he spun around.

"Thank goodness it was you." He smiled. "I thought you were someone else but-"

Whack!

Rev dropped onto the floor and blacked out at the impact.

As quickly as he lost consciousness, his eyes danced as his head throbbed a dull pain like a pulse. He tried to use one hand to rub his head to block the headache only to find his hands were bound together with some form of duct tape. The road runner spun his head around to see he was sitting on a metal chair like he was a kidnapped hostage. He was still in the living room but thanks to the heavy blow to his head, he couldn't use his GPS power to locate the one who hit him. Rev was about to struggle out of his bounds when a silhouette emerged from the darkness. The seemed to be cloaked in a brown robe with a beak-like mask covering their face along with a wide brimmed hat. The road runner tried to keep his nerves under control as the figure approached his side.

"Who are you?" Rev inquired immediately. "Are you the one who killed Slam?"

His questions were ignored as the silent character took hold of a rope that hung behind where Rev was sitting and started to haul it in. It was then Rev felt his neck being tugged and he realised the rope was attached to him. As if it was a telepathic command from his captor, he stood on top of the chair as the rope tightened around his neck. Once the robed figure decided they've pulled enough, they tied the other end of the rope to a pillar that stood firmly in the middle of the room.

"So you're gonna kill me too huh? Is that what you're going to do to the rest of us?" Rev stammered. "You'll never get away with it! My friends will find out who you are and they will put you behind bars! They'll never let anyone like you get away with crimes like this! Even if I die, that will be when they'll stop you in your tracks!"

The figure strode up to the road runner and positioned themselves behind him.

"You wouldn't even dare!" Rev gulped.

With one swift kick, the figure knocked the chair over, leaving the bird to choke on the rope. Rev violently snapped at the air with his legs while loosening the rope that coiled like a python on his neck. The hooded figure watched the bird desperately gasping for air until they took their eye contact from the flailing roadrunner. Tears streamed from his face as he struggled to draw any air in. As his movements became less violent, the menacing character came back holding a baseball bat in their hands. Rev's eyes widened as they approached him. With energy he had left, the roadrunner tried for a last minute struggle before he sees his executioner raising the bat, preparing themselves to swing it as hard as they could at him. Before Rev had any time to react, the bat slammed onto his head. The bird's arms dropped as the murderer continued to batter him like a piñata being smashed just to get to the goods inside.

* * *

"!"

Lexi froze on the spot as the gold morning sun revealed a red bloody mess in the living room. Like they did with Slam, the rest of the Loonatics rushed out to see what made Lexi scream so loud. All of the irises in their eyes narrowed as they caught sight of the roadrunner dangling on a rope with his blood dripping from his beaten body. Tech suddenly shivered with emotions of fear, sadness and anger mixing themselves inside of him.

"They didn't have to do that…" His voice wavered as he fell to his knees. "What would they gain from killing him? He's done nothing wrong!"

The coyote slammed his fist on the ground in anger as Lexi knelt down to his level and placed her arm around his shoulders.

"What happened here?" Ace couldn't take his eyes off Rev hanging dead on the noose until Duck piped up.

"You guys! Look what I've found!"

Lexi and Tech got up as they followed Ace to see what the mallard had to say. In Duck's had was a piece of paper with some writing on it. Ace took the paper from him and read it before turning to the others with a distraught face.

"What does it say?" Lexi fidgeted nervously with the pink night gown rope around her waist.

"It says 'It was an accident. I'm sorry.'". The male rabbit choked.

**END OF CHAPTER 3.**


	4. Theories

"_It was an accident. I'm sorry."_

Those words circled inside Ace's head as he watched the busy scene being played out in front of him. The forensic scientists scavenged the area for clues whilst others were disposing the roadrunner's corpse into a black body bag, Detective Blotz paced up and down the room analysing the note he was given, Lexi consoled Tech from his lab door and Duck was nowhere to be seen. Ace felt pretty silly standing there in his yellow pyjamas but he knew that it would inconvenient if he disappeared to tidy himself up. The male rabbit turned his head to his right when Tech and Lexi approached him. The coyote looked just as distressed as when he first saw his friend dead and Lexi kept the same worried expression on her face.

"I just don't get it," Tech said. "Rev hasn't done anything to deserve this. What could he have possibly done to get killed?"

The male rabbit hesitated for a moment before responding.

"I don't know either Tech. Maybe it could be as Rev said; someone has a grudge against us and is getting us back for locking them up."

"But it doesn't make sense!" The coyote whined. "Okay, Slam didn't deserve to get killed either but how is his family going to feel when they find that he's dead? They're going to be so devastated!"

"Calm down Tech," Ace said in a placid voice. "If it's about the coyote issues his parent have against you, they're not going to blame you. You've done nothing wrong."

"Ahem."

The three Loonatics turned to find Detective Blotz in his green suit in front of them, pushing his spectacles up his muzzle.

"I have some news that may prove of interest to you." He spoke casually. "First of all, we managed to get the autopsy report for Slam Tasmanian. It turns out that his death was no accident."

The Loonatics expressed the shock on their faces.

"Well how did he die?" Ace asked.

"The autopsy report shows that he swallowed some razor blades while consuming some food. The blades must have cut inside his oesophagus and wind pipe, thus he choked to death on his own blood."

"God…" Lexi exhaled as she placed her hand over her mouth.

"As for Rev Runner's death," The Dalmatian continued. "It's obviously a suspicious death and it's not a pretty way to go. But what puzzles me even more is this note that's been left there. 'It was an accident. I'm sorry'."

"Sorry I'm late!"

Duck strode in his uniform while the rest of the Loonatics (still dressed in their night wear) glared at him.

"What?" The mallard shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't want to stay in my pyjamas. Especially not in front of the police."

"As I was saying," The detective resumed. "This note is what's got me thinking; who wrote it and why did they write that?"

"Wait, wasn't Rev the one who made dinner and put the stew away in the fridge?" Lexi piped up.

"So Rev could have killed Slam and he felt so bad about it he hung himself?" Duck summarized her statement.

"That's a lie!" Tech barked. "Rev would never do anything like that! He's not capable of it! Besides, wasn't he battered to death as well?"

"Looking at the scene and the blood covered baseball bat that was recovered by the forensic team, I doubt he committed suicide but it is one possibility." The detective scratched his chin.

"I don't believe it!" The coyote yelled. "Rev couldn't have possibly written that! The writing is too scruffy for it be Rev's handwriting! Besides, do you notice anything about any of the doors here including the entrances to this room?"

Everyone looked around the living room.

"What are you talking about Tech?" Ace inquired. "Nothing's wrong with the doors."

"Exactly!" Tech slammed his fist into his cupped hand. "If the criminal was to kill Slam and Rev, they would have a pretty big problem getting past our security systems. The alarms would go off and wake us up before they could do anything once they attempt to get in. Plus they have to force their way here if they were to get in."

"So what are you saying?" Blotz pushed his glasses up, full of intrigue. "You have an idea who did it?"

"I have two theories; the first one is that the criminal is already inside here and we don't know where they are. The second theory…"

The coyote paused as he gave a sigh that sounded solemn. The others waited for him to finish his sentence before Ace stepped forward.

"What's your second theory?" His voice wavered.

Tech looked up to him with despair in his eyes.

"My second theory is that one of us must have killed them…"

**END OF CHAPTER 4.**


	5. Struggle

Tech sat in a bare grey room whilst he took placed a green microchip in the device out of frustration. It had been a week since they moved from their original headquarters into a safe house that Detective Blotz arranged for them after Rev's death. The team were advised to only take the essentials with them since the safe house would obviously not fit everything the other building could. So much to his distaste, Tech had to leave some of his inventions behind. At the same time, if the murderer did pick the coyote as their next target, he wouldn't want to be killed with the weapons he made himself. But his main concern was what happened when he revealed his second theory to the group.

* * *

"Wait! What?" Duck snapped. "Why the hell would we want to kill our team mates for?"

"I have to agree with Duck on this one," Ace stepped forward. "What would we possibly gain by killing two of our closest friends?"

"We're not certain of the killer's motive as of yet but the undamaged doors and windows support what I'm saying." Tech unfolded his arms.

"And if what your canine friend says is true," Blotz cut in. "That would narrow down the amount of suspects greatly."

"Well I'm not being blamed for something I didn't do!" Duck jabbed his index finger on his chest in an angry manner.

"No-one is blaming anyone yet Duck." Ace said calmly.

"Well until we find the entrance that has been forced open, I'm afraid the coyote's possibility stands to be the most likely conclusion. Until we can properly investigate it, a safe house has been arranged for you to stay in until the culprit is caught. Here are the directions to the place. I'll give you two days to pack only the essentials of your belongings before a truck comes to pick the things up." The Dalmatian said before leaving them with the instructions.

As soon as the door shut behind him, Duck glared at Tech.

"Oh thanks a lot moron for pinning the blame on someone who had nothing to do with this!"

"I was only putting out a suggestion." The coyote said in defence.

"Yeah, and that suggestion just put us on the firing line of Spot the dog!" The mallard threw his arms up in the air.

"And how certain are you that you didn't do this?" Tech folded his arms. "You seem quite upset when I threw that theory into the ring."

"I'm upset because I didn't murder them!"

"Oh yeah? What about the argument you had with Slam the night he died?" Tech folded his arms.

"I told him it was a joke and we both had a mutual agreement like adults!" Duck said. "Besides, what about your argument with Rev a week ago before he died huh? Where he accidentally broke your thingy-ma-jig and you told him you don't want him in your lab anymore?"

"Hey!" The coyote snapped. "That was uncalled for!"

"That's enough you two!" Ace pushed himself in between the disputing pair while Lexi grabbed Tech's arm. The mallard and coyote exchanged glares as they growled under their breath.

"Fighting is not going to solve anything!" Ace declared. "I suggest you two start packing your things. That way you won't have to look at each other!"

"Fine." Tech murmured as he pulled his arm from Lexi's grip. "I'll pack. And then I'll catch the culprit myself. Just make sure he gets out of my way before anymore fatalities occur."

* * *

By now, Tech had connected the coloured wires to a brass screw inside the device. He then placed the plastic, black cover over the box like device and clicked it shut. He pressed the button on the gadget where a glowing blue light zapped between two silver prongs as it unleashed a clattering sound.

"Perfect." The coyote smiled as he proudly held up his newly made tazer gadget.

All of the sudden, he felt a heavy blow at the back of his head. Stunned for only a moment, Tech rubbed the back of his head.

"What the hell was that?" He moaned before he turned his head around to find the cause for the sudden pain.

At the corner of his eye, the intimidating figure in the tan robes and hat charged at him through the big, round, black eyes on the bird-like mask. When Tech saw the metal hammer they wielded in their hand, he sprang from his chair avoiding another attempt of harm from his pursuer. Unable to prevent the sound of smashing, the robed character slammed the hammer onto the table and made a crack appear on it. Tech didn't hesitate to reach the door handle so he could escape. But as he desperately twisted the door knob, the door didn't seem to open for him.

"Shit!" He spat through his teeth as he noticed a shadow creep up on him.

Knowing the intention of their approach, he dodged another attack. His back pressed against a shelf that was attached to the wall. That's when he spotted a can of lubrication spray. His enemy faced the coyote with the hammer ready to strike. Tech snatched the spray can from the shelf and pressed the top of it, emitting the chemical spray at his attacker. They coughed in the cloud of the lubricant when Tech tried to get them to drop the hammer by grabbing the handing holding it. The aggressor grabbed both the coyote's wrists as they tried to overthrow his attempts of attack. By accident, Tech's finger pressed the top of the spray can making both of them choke in the chemical cloud. As Tech tried to recover from his coughing fit, the attacker grabbed the tazer from the table and batted their arm at a pile of papers on that same table. Tech panicked as the figure completely disappeared in the shower of papers. Before he had time to react, the figure charged through them with the tazer device crackling aggressively. They lunged their arm at the coyote managing to make contact with the electronic gadget.

With one zap, Tech collapsed onto the floor on his back. He completely regretted leaving that weapon there for his aggressor to take advantage of and he didn't have the energy to fight back. The paralysed coyote groaned when the robed figure sat themselves on top of his stomach with a new object in their hand. Tech's eyes widened at what looked like a small meat cleaver in their right hand raised above their head. But he knew either way, he had lost against the one he promised his team mate he'd capture. He winced as the attacker threw their arm down. Tech suddenly gave a yelp as the blood spurted from his left arm. When he was able to open his eyes just a little bit, he spotted his dismembered arm away from his body. He tried concentrating to regenerate another arm to replace the one he lost but to no avail.

"What?" Tech thought. "Why isn't my regeneration working!"

After that second, he howled in pain as a sharp pain occurred in his other shoulder. With both arms away from his body, he suddenly realised how his regeneration powers worked. When all his particles were together, he can fully recover himself. But because his arms were separated and thrown away from him, he couldn't grow another pair of arms. Nevertheless, that realisation felt pointless to him as he saw the cleaver blade aim for his neck.

**END OF CHAPTER 5. **


	6. Accusations

"Why do I keep waking up so early?" Lexi yawned as she came out of her bedroom and entered the kitchen with dark blue walls.

It took the remaining Loonatics days to adapt to their new home for however long they were going to be expecting to stay there for. After all, the killer was still at large and she knew they could strike at any moment. But since moving out of their headquarters, she felt safe in the knowledge that the criminal wouldn't be able to find out where their new place of residence would be anytime soon. Not without having to go to extreme lengths in order to try and kill anyone else on the team. The female rabbit yawned again as she pulled the silver fridge door open. With one glance into the fridge and her eyes narrowed from tiredness to fear. Her hands planted themselves onto her face as she gave a terrifying scream. Ace and Duck immediately rushed out of their rooms as they have done twice to find out why Lexi still screeched in the morning like an alarm clock.

"You better have a good reason why you're still waking us up in the morning!" Duck frowned at her.

Lexi shivered all over as she pointed to inside the fridge.

"Th-Th-There's a h-h-h…"

Ace approached Lexi's side only to gape at a severed hand lying on a plate. The hand was covered in brown fur with the wrist covered in the red blood. The male rabbit immediately ran from the fridge and sprinted to Tech's room. At first he tried twisting the knob to open it but the door refused to budge.

"Tech! Are ya in dere? Tech!" Ace banged his fist onto the door.

"Oh God…" Tears streamed from Lexi's green eyes. "Please say it isn't what I think just happened…"

"Stand back!" Ace ordered as his eyes glowed a yellow colour and unleashed the red lasers at the door.

Once the door was completely incinerated, Ace burst through the door only to stop at the sight of a crimson bloody mess in the laboratory. He decided to wander into the room where most of the scattered papers soaked up the puddles of blood as well as some of the other dismembered limbs sitting on the table and floor. Ace shuffled his feet trying to find a clean space when he accidently kicked on object underneath some white papers with blood splattered across the pages. Crouching down, he felt afraid of what could be underneath them as his trembling hand hovered over the papers. He hesitated upon lifting the papers up as he took deep breaths.

"Come on Ace!" He told himself. "Stay calm. 3-2-1!"

At that cue, he rapidly flipped the pages over. The second he caught sight of what was underneath them, the rabbit tumbled backwards in shock. He lifted himself to his feet and bolted across the room as fast as he could to the exit. Before Lexi and Duck could say anything, Ace sprinted towards the bathroom. The next thing the others could hear was their leader throwing up. They immediately rushed to the bathroom to find the male rabbit kneeling over the toilet bowl coughing up the contents from his stomach.

"Um… Tech's gone hasn't he?" Lexi asked the leader quietly.

Ace slowly turned his head slowly to his other team mates with tired bloodshot eyes.

"His eyes…" He stammered. "They looked so empty and lifeless…"

Lexi's eyes welled up as she sobbed into Duck's shoulders. The only thing the mallard could think of doing to comfort her was putting his arms around her and holding her as tight as he could.

* * *

"Now this is getting serious…" Blotz scratched his chin as he looked over the bloodied room. "Serious indeed…"

The Dalmatian strode over the mess past the forensic investigators and climbed under the yellow security tape to meet with the Loonatics who stood in front of the entrance. As the dog regained his balance, he gave them a cold stare.

"It seems the criminal was able to figure out where you guys were in no time and… I think the rest is obvious."

"But how did they do that though!" Ace said. "How the hell did they manage to find where we were living in no time? We only moved in here a week ago!"

"Remember, Mr Bunny, about your coyote friend's second theory. The one where one of you guys could be behind all this." Blotz reminded the group.

"We told you before!" Duck burst out. "None of us could have done all this! Why would we kill our team mates who are also our friends!"

"The motive is not too clear," Blotz folded his arms. "However, something has been bothering me for while. And that thing will keep bothering me if you guys give me the answer to this question; who was the one who discovered your friend was dead?"

"It was me who found the hand in the fridge." Lexi stepped forward in her pink dressing gown.

"But I found the rest of the pieces of the body." Ace added.

There was a pause from Blotz before he glanced at Lexi.

"Isn't it strange?" He said to the female rabbit.

"Strange?"

"When you discovered the first body, it was a mere coincidence. The second body that you discovered, it's not too bad. But when you discovered the third body, well, it kind of seems strange don't you think?" The Dalmatian shot an icy look at her.

Lexi flinched when Ace stepped next to her.

"Wait!" The male rabbit placed his hands on her shoulders. "Are you saying that Lexi killed them?"

The dog shook his head.

"I've never said such a thing. All I'm saying is that why did she discover all three bodies?"

"It could just be coincidence." Duck shrugged his shoulders. "Or maybe it could be some sick practical joke someone's playing on her?"

"Or maybe it could be just a warning for the young lady from the murderer?" Blotz placed his paw on his chin.

"Stop it!" Ace yelled. "We're just coming up with theories and assumptions! And why are you picking on her like this? She didn't do anything wrong!"

"Need I keep reminding you about what your coyote friend said about one of you being the killer?" The Dalmatian pushed his glasses up his muzzle. "If Lexi isn't the murderer as you claim, then there are only two suspects left to investigate and I know both of you would deny murdering your friends."

"Why are you thinking that we did it?" The male rabbit shouted. "None of us would do a thing like this! You're just trying to wrap up this case as quickly as possible by blaming innocent people!"

Blotz started chuckling to himself much to the confusion of the Loonatics.

"You haven't changed at all haven't you Ace?" He grinned.

"What do you mean?" The male rabbit frowned.

"That rebellious spark you always had." The dog continued. "It wasn't obvious when I saw you the first time but it's finally emerged. It's funny to see you so agitated."

"Stop changing the subject!" Ace demanded. "This isn't meant to be funny!"

"You're right." The Dalmatian controlled his laughter. "That was rather insensitive of me. But try not to get so angry like that again in front of your team mates. You look like a fool when you do that."

Ace glared at Blotz as he strolled past the group. After disappearing around the corner, Lexi and Duck gazed at their leader.

"What was that detective talking about Ace?" Lexi asked.

The male rabbit hesitated and gave a sigh.

"Nothing, it's not important right now."

"Well he seemed to know you very well Ace." Duck smirked at him. "So what's the connection between you two then?"

"Can it Duck!" Ace snapped. "No progress has been made under him. From now on, we're not calling him again."

"That's a bit risky isn't it?" Lexi said with concern in her voice. "He is a homicide police detective and he seems to know what he's doing."

"I'm sorry." Ace cut in once more. "I don't think he's going to be much help to us now. I think we've gotta do the rest of the investigating ourselves. After all, we are the Loonatics right?"

Lexi and Duck glanced at each other at their leader's sudden decision.

**END OF CHAPTER 6.**


	7. Taking off the Mask

All the forensic scientists disappeared from the safe house towards the evening the next day. However, it was official that no-one except for the authorities could enter Tech's room for any reason at all. But it wasn't like Ace wanted to go back in there after the horror within that room made him physically sick. Besides, since Blotz started to get personal to him, the rabbit had enough of him undermining him and his team. He gathered the rest of the team in the living room as part of his plan to catch the criminal once and for all. It felt strange for them to investigate something in their casual clothing instead of their uniforms, making them feel even more uncomfortable.

"So what's your plan Ace?" Lexi fidgeted with the bottom of her shocking pink, sleeveless shirt.

"Well since da criminal managed to thwart us and the police three times, I'm seeing whether Tech's theory about one of us being da suspect is true." Ace explained.

"What!" Duck jerked his hands out of his orange, hooded jumper. "After denying that any of us had nothing to do with the murders, you're seriously saying that one of us did it?"

"We don't know yet Duck," The male rabbit glanced at him. "The search through our rooms should prove whether or not one of us did it."

"Wait!" Duck interrupted again, this time in anger. "That's a violation of privacy! You can't just search through our personal belongings! Some of them could be private!"

"And some of those private things could the key to who killed our friends!" Ace raised the volume of his voice. "Besides, if you want to prove your innocent, we have no choice but to search through your room. So unless you have any secrets you're not telling us Duck-"

"I've said this so many times; I didn't kill them!"

"You guys!" Lexi cut in with a wavering voice.

Ace acknowledged her concerned and exhaled before starting again.

"Okay; I'm going to search through Duck's room. Duck, you search through Lexi's room while she searches through mine."

"Hey!" Duck whined. "Why do I have to search through all the girly stuff?"

Both of the rabbits glared at him at that moment. Realising the mallard was outnumbered; Duck breathed out a "Fine" of surrender and dragged his feet down the hallway to Lexi's room. As he disappeared around the corner, the female rabbit turned to Ace.

"There's something I don't get though;" She murmured. "Why didn't Tech just regenerate when the killer chopped him up?"

"Tech explained this to me once," Ace rubbed his arm, shuddering at the thought of the dismembered body. "He said whenever he turned into ash, as long as all of his particles are touching each other he can regenerate into his original form. But because he was sliced up, da body parts were separate, thus he couldn't regenerate unless he was physically touching da missing parts."

"Oh God…" Tears started to well up in her eyes as she covered them with her hands like a mask.

Ace's hands floated to hers and gently enticed them away from her face.

"We've just gotta catch da criminal and no-one else will be hurt okay?"

Lexi nodded her head as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand and turned away from him to find her assigned room. As she drifted further away from him, Ace could sense all the sadness emitting from her. As far as he was concerned he felt that Lexi had been the most sensitive about the whole things about the murders. Who could blame her? Apart from being a woman, she was the one who discovered the bodies of her friends before anyone else and that was more than enough to imprint the frightening images in her head for a while if not forever. Ace shook his head to shake off those thoughts as he walked over to the door to Duck's room.

* * *

"I'm glad Ace keeps his room clean." Lexi thought to herself as she rummaged through the garments in his silver chest of drawers.

After taking everything out of their places, she made sure that she put everything back just so he didn't have to tidy up the mess that she caused in his room. Once she placed the last item in the chrome wardrobe, she scanned the room until she fixed her eyes on the yellow bed side drawers.

"I don't think I've looked there." Lexi said as she pulled the drawers open.

She felt around the inside of each of the three drawers, wincing as she scrambled her hand through his underwear and socks. As she was about to pull her hand out of the third drawer, she felt a small plastic packet which stood out from the cloth texture. The rabbit grabbed what seemed like several of the plastic packets she felt. Once Lexi examined them in her hands, her eyes narrowed.

"I knew it!" She seethed through her gritted teeth.

* * *

"Who knew someone could love themselves that much?" Ace sighed as he searched through the posters, all with Duck trying to look cool or heroic. As he looked at the dynamic poses of the mallard on the posters, he turned his head and gave a little smile towards the bed with a purple blanket draped over the mattress.

"Just a little longer…" He murmured to himself.

As he basked in some kind of warm nostalgic atmosphere, a scream tore through the safe house. Ace jumped to his feet and unearthed Guardian Strike sword from his blue jeans pocket. He burst through the door into the hallway trying to find the source of the scream when Lexi suddenly sprinted from the corner and bumped into him.

"It's them!" She shrieked as tears flowed from her emerald eyes. "They're trying to kill me!"

"What?"

Before Ace could ask anything else, a brown hooded figure emerged from the corner and faced the two rabbits. Ace placed Lexi behind himself as he raised his blade at the figure who slowly shuffled their feet towards them. The male rabbit nervously shook inside until he charged at the approaching stranger. His sapphire eyes met the empty black eyes of the silver bird mask placed over their face. The figure raised their hand.

"Die!" Ace yelled as he lunged the blade towards the figure.

Lexi froze on the spot as she watched the robed villain collapse onto the floor after Ace pulled his sword out from their stomach. The menacing character lied on the floor with the red blood spreading across the grey floor. Ace rushed towards them again and stabbed the body continually. With every stab he did, blood splattered onto his yellow T-shirt.

"Die! Die! DIE AND BURN IN HELL!"

With the last stab aiming for their heart, the rabbit heard the squelching sound that proved that their life had ended. He stopped with his sword still planted in the corpse. He panted as Lexi cautiously walked up to Ace's side and grabbed his arm.

"They're dead, right?" She mumbled quietly.

The male rabbit nodded his head with an emotionless expression on his face.

"Yeah." He said as he crouched down and grabbed the silver bird mask. "And we finally get to reveal the culprit."

With one swift tug, he ripped the mask off. Suddenly, his lip trembled as his eyes widened with fear.

"No… it can't be…"

Lexi peered over the rabbit's shoulder only to gasp in fright.

"D-Duck?"

The light had completely disappeared from the mallard's eyes with the fixed expression of extreme pain frozen in death. The blood painted sword slid from Ace's hands as tears trickled down his furry white cheeks.

"W-Why?" His voice croaked. "Why did it have to be him? Why did it he do those things after all this time!"

Lexi placed her hands on his shoulder while he sobbed. She couldn't think about what to say to him let alone decide what to do. And the worst part was Ace was meant to be the leader and at the present he was in a vulnerable position. She was about to open her mouth when she heard the male rabbit whimper.

"Lexi… H-Help me… I can't stand to see his face anymore…"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Lexi hovered around Duck's body and slipped her arms around the mallard's arm pits.

"Okay, help me get the body to the medical room." She stammered. "We'll figure out what to do with Duck afterwards okay?"

Ace sniffed before he swept the tears from his eyes and grabbed the mallard's ankles and aided Lexi into carrying him across the halway.

**END OF CHAPTER 7.**


	8. My name is Atra Nex

After placing Duck on his bed in his room, Ace and Lexi spent hours huddled on the brown couch with both their arms entangled into each other. The evening sun shone its golden rays into the living room turning the room itself into a subtle shade of orange. Both of the rabbit's faces seemed emotionless and undisturbed despite everything that has happened for the past few weeks. Ace had finally calmed down after he had a shower and changed his bloodstained clothes for a white tank top with a yellow jacket over his chest. Lexi however remained in her pink sleeveless top and blue skinny jeans. The male rabbit finally made some kind of movement by turning his head to Lexi's side.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." The female rabbit nodded. "I think you did the right thing. If we called the police now, both of us will be alone and I don't want that to happen now that we're the only ones left."

"Well it's over now." Ace swallowed. "No-one else is gonna to get hurt."

There was another pause before Lexi glanced at the male rabbit.

"Um… You know when that detective said those things as though he knew you." She said. "Have you two met before?"

Ace hesitated for a moment before he gave a sigh of defeat.

"I haven't always been a good guy, you know?"

Lexi blinked.

"What do you mean by that?"

The male rabbit rubbed his head.

"It all started when me and a couple of other guys were in a middle of a robbery at a corner shop in the poorer parts of Acmetropolis. We'd just managed to steal all da cash from da till and we were all gonna get away in our getaway car. But someone managed to throw something like a tin can at the back of my head so I fell over. I tried to get up but not only had my so called 'friends' abandoned me, I was being held down by some people until the police got there minutes later. Since I was the only one who didn't get away, they took me down to the station for questioning."

Ace exchanged a blank stare at the female rabbit.

"I bet you're thinking I'm a bad person are you?" He asked her.

Lexi shook her head.

"Well you've managed to turn yourself around in the end."

"Well I only got a final warning instead of a few months in prison because I tattle-tailed on those bastards." Ace continued. "I felt that they would learn their lesson not to piss me off like that again."

"I see…" Lexi's voice trailed off before she turned to Ace again whilst biting her lip. "Ace, I have a question I want to ask you and I want you to be honest."

The male rabbit sat himself up and bought his arm around Lexi's shoulder.

"Of course Lex." He smiled at her.

The female rabbit raised a smile back before turning her face away from him.

"Do… Do you love me?"

Ace looked at her with confusion before he gave her another smile.

"Of course I do Lexi. I love you more than anything else in the world."

Her face changed into a gloomy expression as she broke away from his grasp.

"I think you're lying."

Ace felt dazed about that comment she had given.

"Lying?" He inquired. "I don't understand. Why would I lie to you?"

"We both know you're not telling the truth." Lexi murmured, avoiding to making eye contact with him.

"Lexi?" The male rabbit tried to wrap his arms around her. "Why are you doing this? What's wrong with you? I really do love-"

"YOU LIAR!" Lexi screeched as she stood up from her place on the couch.

Ace winced when he caught sight of her scowling face, making him feel uneasy and uncomfortable. Then Lexi turned to the male rabbit with a softened blank face.

"Do remember what happened a week before that big mission with the robbery?" She asked in a monotone voice.

"What are you talking about Lexi?" Ace said in a bemused expression.

"A week before the mission, I heard strange noises at night. At first I tried to ignore it but it was so persistent that I couldn't get any sleep." She explained. "So I decided to find the source of the noise. I searched and searched until I finally found it."

It was at that point that Lexi frowned at Ace.

"Do you know where the noise came from Ace?" She imposed.

Inside, the male rabbit shivered nervously inside. He didn't understand what was making Lexi act in such an aggressive way. He gulped before the female rabbit continued.

"The noise I heard that night… came from your room Ace."

"What!?" Ace gasped. "What are you talking about? I never heard anything!"

"Well," Lexi giggled. "I was listening through your door and I heard heavy breathing. I was simply going to ignore it until I heard your voice, Ace, and then I heard someone else's voice."

Ace stood up from his seat and clenched his fists.

"What's gotten into you Lexi?" His voice wavered. "Why are you saying these things?"

The female rabbit chuckled to herself before placing her hands behind her back.

"You two were having a very strange conversation." She continued. "A conversation that made Lexi scared. She can remember the entire discussion."

"Eh?"

"A little closer… that's better. Now, let's get started. Oh yes… Yes! That's good…"

"S-Stop it…"

"Do it harder! Harder! Come on! You can do better than that!" Her voice increased in volume and intensity.

"I said stop it…"

"Oh yes! That's it! Keep going! Keep it going!"

"Stop it please!" Ace begged.

"No! Don't stop! Keep it going! Yes! Yes! Yes! After this, I'll give you a blow-"

"I SAID STOP IT!" He screamed as he swung his right hand at a mighty speed at Lexi's cheek.

Lexi's head jerked as he slapped her face, suddenly shutting her up. Silence hung in the tense air until the female rabbit giggled seconds later.

"That's what Lexi wanted to say when she heard you say those dirty things." She whispered. "Lexi wanted to burst into that room and say everything you said just now. But she didn't. She just went back to her room and cried all night."

Ace glared at his burning hand frozen in fear. He trembled on the spot as he lifted his head to see Lexi grinning at him with malice.

"Why are you speaking in the third tense all of a sudden?" He stuttered. "Who are you? What have you done to Lexi!?"

Lexi cackled psychotically for a few seconds until she reduced them to giggles.

"You're not speaking to Lexi anymore!" She sneered. "My name originates from the Black Death that destroyed so many lives a thousand years ago."

"Da Black… Death?"

"The Black Death was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history." Lexi said with a silky voice. "You should be afraid of me."

"Who are you?" What are you meant to be?" The male rabbit demanded.

"Who am I?" She murmured to herself. There was a pause as she sniggered once again. "My name is Atra Nex..."

"What did you do to Lexi?"

"I've done nothing to her. She got scared and didn't want to talk to you, so I took over for her." Lexi's voice grew stern. "In fact, I have been a part of Lexi long before she met you."

"Scared?" Ace's eye brows raised as though he felt full realisation. "It was you killed everyone, wasn't it?"

"Ah ah!" Lexi pointed her finger to the other rabbit. "I only killed three out of the four that are dead. I suppose you don't want a reminder of who killed the fourth one?"

Ace shot an angered look onto the floor. He may have not been used to being wrong but he wished that he didn't stab Duck at all with his sword. In his head, he wished that the mallard was still alive so they could both deal with Atra Nex together. The male rabbit looked up and made eye contact with Lexi.

"So the blades in that stew; how did you…"

"Who was the one who helped Rev with the washing up?" Lexi spoke in a husky voice. "I made sure to plant them in the stew so I could get you to eat it. Unfortunately, that gluttonous oath Slam had to consume it as a midnight snack. But at least a possible threat was crossed out."

"Then what about Rev?"

"I was less sensible about trying to get you that night." She chuckled. "Thanks to his GPS powers, he was able to detect me. So I had to kill him before he could sing."

"Then you were the one who wrote that suicide note?" Ace's voice grew a little more confident.

"I thought by doing that, I could pin Slam's murder on him." Lexi continued. "However, that coyote knew the truth that he did not commit my crime."

"And because Tech said it could have been one of us, you felt threatened that you'd be found out and-"

"Ah ha ha! Yes, I got rid of him. I knew that he could find out about me sooner than I would have liked. It was a struggle as he put up a good fight but in the end I just chopped him up like that."

Ace felt a cold shiver down his spine as a thought sprung to his head.

"No…"

Lexi laughed suddenly realising what he was going to say.

"Duck's death… Duck's death was your doing. You sent him to search the wrong room. He'd discover the robes, the hat and the mask and Lexi's cover would have been blown. So I tried to protect her by hitting him over the head with one of his statuettes of himself. He was unconscious but then I felt this could be the opportunity to get you back."

"Get me back?" Ace said. "Back for what?"

"You piece of shit!" Lexi spat in fury. "Rejecting her that's what! That night where she heard you saying that crap to your secret lover and that mission where you completely abandoned her to catch that robber was what reawakened me!"

The male rabbit could see in her eyes that he was no longer speaking to his friend but to a being whose familiar green eyes had no human shine to them what so ever. Just then, Lexi chuckled as her hand bought out a sharp looking kitchen knife. Ace was about to grab the Guardian Strike sword from his pocket when he forgot that he left the sword in the bathroom after he cleaned it. The female rabbit rubbed her fingers on the black plastic handle as she chortled to herself.

"And now, Ace Bunny, I want to ask you another question and don't you dare try to lie to me; who was the person you loved more than Lexi?"

"I…" Ace took a step back. "I don't love anyone else!"

"YOU LIAR!" Lexi screeched as she took a swing at Ace's chest.

The male rabbit dodged the attempted attack, spun around on the spot and started to sprint for the exit out of the safe house. He threw the door open and stampeded down the steps. Lexi's cackles echoed not too far behind him.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN RUN!" She threatened him. "BUT WHEN YOU CAN'T RUN ANYMORE, I SHALL HAVE THE PLEASURE OF KILLING YOU!"

**END OF CHAPTER 8.**


	9. Confession

Tears streamed from Ace's blue eyes as he desperately ran across the sunset streets. There was a dull pain in his chest as he panted but he wasn't going to stop in fear that Lexi would find him and kill him like she did to the others. Just then, he heard a second set of footsteps echoing behind him followed by a psychotic cackle.

"You're not gonna get away from me Ace Bunny! You can't run forever!"

The male rabbit didn't dare himself to look back. Not that he needed to since he recognised that screeching voice from the one who was supposed to be his friend.

"She's right." He thought to himself. "I'm going tire sooner or later! I have to hide!"

At that moment, he spotted an alleyway between two of the apartments. Without hesitation, he sprinted there and immediately grabbed onto a metal ladder attached to the side of a building and started climbing on it. In hopes of losing her, he scrambled up the rails. He lost his footing a couple of times because he climbed too fast but he wasn't going let that stop him from getting to the roof top. As soon as he felt the concrete surface, he pulled himself up and stumbled to the centre of the roof. The rabbit felt a sense of relief as he bent forward to try and catch his breath. He could taste the salty tears on his tongue so he stood up and wiped them off his face. He tried contemplating on where he could stay for the night now that the safe house was no longer a place to go. Both that and the old headquarters bought back too many bad memories for him. And even if he decided to stay at a hotel, he would need money and for him to get that he needed to go back to the safe house to get it. And he wasn't prepared to take that risk in case Lexi managed to find him. Ace growled in frustration until he heard some footsteps from behind him.

"There you are Ace. I thought we were never going to get the chance to talk."

The rabbit spun around and gasped. Lexi, still armed with the kitchen knife, started to approach him while Ace slowly backed away from her.

"I'm so glad you ran into a dead end," She raised a sickly smile. "I felt that you needed to talk to me about some deep dark secrets…

"There's nothing to talk about!" Ace snapped. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Why?" Lexi giggled. "Do you want to know how I was born?"

"What?"

"I was born out of Lexi's fear when she was at high school." She started. "Some jocks who regularly picked on her, locked her up in the sports cupboard and wouldn't let her out. She begged them to let her out but all they did was laugh at her."

Ace took another step back until he suddenly stopped. He turned his head around to find a bird's eye view over the street he ran down moments ago. When he glanced back at Lexi, she stopped walking towards him. Her face changed from smiling to being blank and emotionless.

"She was so scared, so frightened, that she was breaking down. That's when she heard my gentle voice."

With the knife still in her hand, Lexi clenched the sides of her head.

"Do you wish to break free from this prison?" She said in a consoling voice, only to suddenly wail "Please! I just want to get out of here!"

Ace watched this conversation between the contrasting voices as Lexi acted out some actions.

"Do you wish to break free from this prison?"

"Yes! Yes! What do I do!?"

"Take a baseball bat from the rack and smash the door down. Do you think you can do it?"

"…Yes." Lexi said in a calmer voice than the panicky character she played. She held the knife like she was holding a baseball bat and pretended to strike at the invisible door. She grunted with each swing she took.

"So she did what I said. She was desperate to get out of that cupboard. She didn't think about anything else other than her bid for freedom. Finally, she smashed that door down and she was able to see the ones who locked her up there in the first place."

Lexi stopped swinging and glared at Ace.

"When she saw the pitiful looks on those jock's faces I asked her; Do you think you deserved the treatment they just gave you? Do you think they deserve to leave this place without being punished first? Do you think they deserve to live after what they have done to you?"

The female rabbit approached Ace. He flinched thinking she was going to stab him but instead he felt her stroking his cheek.

"Can you guess what Lexi's answer was?" She whispered into his ear. "She said… No."

Lexi broke away from Ace and twirled like she was dancing, laughing to herself.

"The first jock she struck was a cheerleader, the leader no less. Lexi knocked her off balance and started to smash her arms! She begged her to stop and she cried "Save me" to her friends! But her friends just stood and watched Lexi smashing her up. When she had enough of that girl, she decided to try and go after the other cheerleader. This time the jocks ran away to find a teacher, leaving Lexi to smash her face in."

Lexi stopped spinning around and turned her back to Ace.

"Sadly, the two girls were still alive when Lexi stopped hitting them." She continued. "The leader got away with just bruises and a few fractures in the arms but the other cheerleader had lasting effects in one eye which meant she could no longer practice cheerleading anymore. Even though no-one pressed charges, Lexi was put under house arrest and had regular counselling from the doctor. When she got too scared to answer the doctor's questions, I had to take her place and answer them for her until she calmed down."

Ace thought it would be safe to take a step away from the edge of the roof when Lexi spun around and pointed the knife at him, freezing him on the spot once more.

"After talking to the both of us, the doctor diagnosed Lexi with multiple personality disorder and suppressed me at the back of her mind using hypnotherapy. She lived peacefully when she moved to Acmetropolis with her parents. That was until you made her feel the same fear she felt all those years ago."

"But how?" Ace stammered nervously.

Lexi delved her unoccupied hand into the back pocket of her jeans and threw some small, purple, square packets onto the ground.

"Recognise these you sick bastard?"

The male rabbit's eyes widened in fear.

"C-Condoms? But where did you find them?"

"Don't tell me you forgot!" Lexi laughed manically. "You told Lexi to search in your room for anything suspicious and she found them. What were they for Ace?"

Ace's hands trembled and sweat trickled down his face.

"It's none of your business!"

"Okay, let me put it another way;" Lexi bared a sly grin. "Who is the one that you love more than me?"

The male rabbit blubbered as he slapped his hands in front of his face.

"Please, stop. Just stop please."

"Why should I?" Lexi glared at him with bloodshot red eyes. "You've put Lexi through enough suffering and paranoia to last her a life time! She loved you Ace but you didn't feel the same for her. You just pretended to love her. You lied to her then and you lied to her now. You are the most despicable creature I ever had to lay my-"

"It was Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

The female rabbit expressed a face of confusion for the first time in a while. She could clearly see the tears streaming down his face since his sudden outburst.

"Duck?"

"He was the one I loved more than you Lexi," Ace whimpered. "He was the most beautiful thing I ever laid my eyes on and he shared the same feelings as I did. And his touch… oh God, his touch… it felt like it was God caressing me. It felt so wonderful. Everything about him was so beautiful. And there was no-one I would rather be with than him. But he's gone. He's gone because I killed him!"

Lexi suddenly cackled like a witch.

"You think by confessing the truth will leave your life spared by me? Fool! My name, Atra Nex, means 'Black Death' in Latin and I intend to kill you!"

The female rabbit charged at Ace with the knife in the outstretched hand, cackling louder than she had done before. At the last second, Ace took a side step, making Lexi lose balance on the edge of the roof. She was about to topple over when she felt Ace's hand snap onto her unoccupied arm. The male rabbit gritted his teeth as Lexi stood whilst leaning over the edge. The tears still kept pouring from his eyes but for some reason he felt like he couldn't bear to lose her. After all, she was the only other Loonatic left apart from him.

"Lexi! Snap out of it!" He called out to her. "You don't have to do this! You have to fight Atra Nex! You have to fight against them! Please, just try!"

Everything fell silent. Ace watched his friend wondering who was winning. Finally, Lexi spoke.

"Ace? Where am I? I'm scared."

His face lit up as he began encouraging her.

"It's me, Ace! It's okay. You don't have to be scared anymore. I'm here and-"

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He felt like he couldn't breathe anymore. He placed his left hand on his stomach and bought it up to his face. A red stain painted his hand. Everything to him had stopped. All he could hear was his breathing and Lexi giggling psychotically. He began losing consciousness but he could still hear the rabbit singing something although the words seemed jumbled.

"Ring around the roses

A pocket full of posies

Ah-tishoo! Ah-tishoo!

We all fall down."

As she sang another verse, Ace's hand began to slip out of her arm until both were completely separated. When Lexi sang the last line, she felt herself falling in the air. From that point on, she didn't speak another word.

**********

"_Ace. This is the real Lexi. If you can hear me, I am so sorry for everything that has happened. I tried to control myself as best as I could but the resistance against Atra Nex was futile thanks to my fear it fed itself on. I was quite surprised it stayed dormant for ages since the incident with those girls. But eventually it would have come out one way or another. However, because of Atra Nex, we may never see each other again unless it managed to kill you too. If it did, lets see each other, Slam, Rev, Tech and Duck too. Until then, goodbye Ace."_

SPLAT!

**END OF CHAPTER 9.**


	10. Invisible Blood

"_And now, to our top news story; there has been a lot of commotion at an apartment on the Armande state of Acmetropolis after a dead body was discovered by some passersby in the area. The body has been identified as Lexi Bunny; a member of the superhero team's "Loonatics". Upon going to the roof, they found Ace Bunny stabbed in the stomach with a kitchen knife, despite still being alive. Police enquiries had to be put on hold as to what happened as they considered Mr Bunny unfit for questioning but they have revealed that this incident could have something to do with the murders of the other members of the superhero team; Slam Tasmanian, Rev Runner, Tech E. Coyote and Daniel Duck. Ace Bunny has been taken to the hospital and is in critical condition."_

_**********_

"Poor guy," One nurse sighed as she hung the transparent sachet of liquid onto the frame next to a hospital bed. "To have his team mates killed off and then to be left for dead, he must devastated."

"I don't know," Another nurse with short black hair checked the oxygen level. "I think it could be Lexi Bunny that stabbed him and then committed suicide for feeling so bad about doing it."

"What makes you say that?"

There was a slight pause from the other nurse before she replied.

"We were both in the same high school before she moved away. There were rumours saying that she was involved in an incident where she beat some cheerleaders up with a baseball bat. I was surprised no-one even pressed charges."

"No-one? But that's crazy! Surely somebody would have said something."

"I don't know all the details but I heard from one of the jocks that got away say that it was like she was possessed by something. And they seem to be afraid of whatever possessed her."

"Like a ghost or spirit?" The curious nurse brushed back a loose bit of her red hair behind her ear.

"Who knows?" The black haired nurse shrugged her shoulders. "Either way, Lexi got the blame and she moved away after the incident. I didn't imagine something like this would happen again."

"Well," The red haired nurse exhaled. "I think we've done everything we can for him. He just has to make it through the night."

"I doubt it." The other nurse cut in as they both exited through the door. "I'd be amazed if he even wakes up let alone make it."

********

"Do you think he'll ever come round?"

"I don't know. It looks serious."

"Look at his eyes! They're opening! He's waking up!"

Ace groaned as his eyes flickered open. His sight was blurry but as his eyes came to focus, he gazed at four familiar figures in a black uniform with vibrant colours dotted around against the bleak white background. Once he could make out the faces of the figures, he threw himself upright and gave a yelp.

"Slam! Rev! Tech! Duck- OW!"

A sharp pain stabbed his stomach forcing him to clutch onto it. The roadrunner stepped forward preparing to cradle him.

"Oh Ace! We've been so worried about you! We thought you weren't to make it!" He cried.

"But you guys aren't meant to be here." Ace said in confusion. "You guys got killed. How?"

"Rev was practically panicking about you." Tech raised a comforting smile. "He was practically climbing the walls because of you."

"Much to our annoyance." Duck grumbled as Slam nodded his head in agreement.

"But how did you guys… you're meant to be dead." The rabbit repeated himself.

"The main thing is you're okay and you'll be up on your feet soon." Tech said in a calm voice.

"Wait," Ace blinked. "Was your deaths a dream?"

All of the sudden, the rabbit burst out laughing, grinning with happiness. He placed his hands over his face as his laughter grew louder.

"It was all a dream!" He continued. "I remember now! Iwas chasing after that robber on that mission and then we fought and we both fell! How long was I out? Ha ha! It doesn't matter because everyone dying around me was only a dream."

Ace scanned the room as he giggled to himself.

"Wait, where's Lexi? If Lexi came here then everything that I thought was real was none other than a nightmare."

As if on cue, the door creaked open and a female figure stepped in. She wore a pink sleeveless shirt with blue skinny jeans. She acknowledged Ace with a gentle smile but her facial expression changed into sadness. The overjoyed male rabbit grinned at her with relief.

"Thank goodness it was you Lexi." He started. "I had this dream that you killed the other guys and then you tried to kill me. I'm sorry if I'm laughing about it but I'm so happy that all of you guys are still alive and that no-one died."

"Ace…" Lexi sighed with regret. "What you've been through is all real."

All of a sudden, Slam knelt onto the floor and started to choke, spitting out blood onto the floor through his mucus sounding breaths. Ace reacted to it by laughing.

"Okay Slam, you can quit that now. You don't have to try and scare me anymore."

While Slam continued to cough up blood, Rev struggle to breathe as though he was being strangled to death. The pupils in the roadrunner's irises in his eyes narrowed leaving the male rabbit to nervously giggle.

"Rev, don't start. Tech, tell them both to stop."

As he turned to the coyote, Ace gasped when he saw the canine's hand drop onto the floor along with many of the other body parts. The rabbit watched in horror as Duck lurched forward with a holes appearing in his chest as though an invisible sword stabbed him constantly. He watched in horror as he backed himself against a wall and grabbed the tips of his ears and bought them down.

"Stop it!" He barked. "Stop dying! Stop it right now!"

"Ace…" The soft voice spoke over the choking and the diminishing moans.

The rabbit spun his head around to widen his eyes at Lexi's blood stained fur and clothes.

"Lexi!" He called out to her as he tore off his oxygen mask.

"Ace, all your friends and myself dying; they really happened. Our deaths were real." She said as a red tear trickled down her face.

"No!" Ace shouted as he jumped out of his bed.

His attempt to even touch the female rabbit failed when he stumbled over the edge before hitting his body hard on the floor. He winced at the sharp pain from his stomach.

"Help!" Ace called. "Somebody help me!"

It was a few seconds later when two nurses in the blue, uniformed dresses burst into the room. Once they saw the patient on the floor, they immediately crouched down beside him, took each of his two arms and attempted to lift the rabbit back onto the bed. But once they picked him up, Ace tried to break free.

"What are you doing?" He yelled as he tore his arm from one of the nurse's grip. "It them you've got to help! They're dying! They're bleeding to death!"

"Mr Bunny, you're not well! Please calm down and get back to bed!"

"I'm not the one in trouble, it's my friends!" The rabbit repeated. "Why aren't you listening to me?"

"There's no-one in this room but us, Mr Bunny! Please cooperate with us and get into the bed!"

"You're meant to be nurses! Why aren't you helping them? They're going to die if you don't do something for them!"

The nurse with the black bobbed hair turned to the other nurse with long red hair.

"Go get the sedatives for Mr Bunny and call the doctor!" She commanded.

As the second nurse left the room, Ace continued wriggling to break free.

"No! I'm okay! It's my friend's you got to help! Please I'm begging you!" He cried as hot salty tears ran down his cheek.

"Mr Bunny! Please stop struggling! The doctor will be here soon!"

"You don't get it! I'm not the one who needs help, it's my friends! Please help them!"

At that moment, the red haired nurse appeared through the door with a syringe in her hand. The black haired nurse found an opening as she slipped behind Ace and wrapped her arms around his shoulders like a full nelson.

"Quick!" She demanded. "While I've got hold him!"

Without hesitation, the nervous nurse took the plastic top off the needle of the syringe and grabbed Ace's wrist. The rabbit tried to resist her pulling out his arm but it proved futile as he continued to struggle. Once he felt the needle pierce into his arm he gave an almighty scream only to suddenly cut into whimpering.

**END OF CHAPTER 10.**


	11. Epilogue No More Heroes

Down the pastel green walled corridor, two nurses; a blonde haired woman with a short pony-tail and a darked haired man, strolled on the tiled floor in their pastel blue medical overalls. The woman hugged a clipboard around her chest as though it was some form of security blanket for her as she stared at the floor with a blank expression on her face.

"Who'd had thought it?" She started. "The superheroes we looked up to are now dead and the one remaining Loonatic is in this asylum. It's quite unbelievable."

"Indeed." The man nodded his head. "According to the doctors at the hospital, he changed voices as though he was talking to several people even though he was clearly by himself. But when the doctors tried talking to him, he wouldn't even acknowledge the fact that they were in the room with him."

"So they just put it down to having a multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia?" The woman glanced at the man.

"Well I'd be a bit messed up if someone killed all my friends and tried to kill me too." The man said. "But since he was stabbed in the stomach by the killer, he had to spend some time in the hospital until the wound healed. It was only when he first woke up and tried to attack the nurses and begged them to save his friends that the doctors concluded that he is never going to be the same again."

The nurse clutched the clipboard tighter and bit her air around them felt uncomfotable as they passed many white metal doors. They ignored the many patients being lead by the other nurses until they stopped at a particular door with a name written on it.

_'Ace Bunny'_.

"So this is the room he's in?" The woman gazed at the door nervously.

The man grabbed a small handle to a sliding hatch on the middle of the door.

"This small hatch is the only way we could properly observe his behaviour without disturbing him. If he sees us checking up on him, he'll just sit there" He explained to her as he pulled the small sliding hatch.

When the gap opened wide enough, both of them peered into it. A grey and white anthro rabbit in a white T-shirt and trousers, sat on the bed with a plate of food resting on his lap. As the man described, the rabbit spoke to the imaginary figures with a cheerful, carefree expression on his face.

"Wow Rev! This stew is actually good!"

"Yeah Rev!"

"Aw shucks guys. I just followed my mom's recipe to a tee. I was kinda worried I might have put too much beef or the actual stew inside but at least I know I didn't put too much of the spices otherwise your mouths would be on fire and-"

"It's fine! No need to share the secret ingredients of the mystery stew."

Once they observed enough of his behaviour, the man carefully slided the small hatch closed.

"At least he's calm like always." He said as both them walked away from the room.

"So how long will it be until Ace can go out there and save the city again?" The woman posed the qustion to the man.

"Well as long as he doesn't speak to the doctors, they can't really help him." He responded, rubbing his forehead.

"But who will protect the city now that all the heroes are gone?" The woman said with concern written on her face.

**********

_"Before the __Black Death__, music was happy and frequently heard. During the Black Death music was played very grimly or never played at all. The only exceptions were people who decided that since they were going to die anyway, they might as well spend the rest of their life in happiness. The somber change in art and music demonstrated the grim reality of the world around them."_

**THE END.**


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